'You are a coward' Nurse's family gives emotional testimony during killer's sentencing

The man convicted of killing Nashville nurse Tiffany Ferguson was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.

A jury found Christopher McLawhorn guilty of first degree premeditated murder, first degree murder, especially aggravated burglary, theft of property, and theft of property over $1,000.

McLawhorn got an automatic life sentence for the murder charge. On Thursday he was sentenced for other charges of burglary and theft. McLawhorn will spend the rest of his life in jail plus 14 years after a judge said he had "no remorse for human life."

During sentencing, Tiffany’s sister Molly Cox, cried in the courtroom as she read a victim impact statement.

“Tiffany was the best of us,” Cox said. “Her heart was as big as her smile. She was always laughing, she laughed with her mouth wide open, her whole body shaking with joy.”

The sister's emotional testimony continued, "Tiffany was joy. Tiffany was beauty. Tiffany was a bright light in a dark world.”

Tiffany and Molly were supposed to meet for lunch on the day she was murdered.

“I had no idea that would be the last time I would talk to my sister.”

Cox said a homeless person in the area of Tiffany’s townhouse reached out to Tiffany’s family, saying the nurse had given him money and food. Her family says Tiffany was known to help the homeless community.

“$40 has destroyed my family,” Cox said.

McLawhorn killed Ferguson inside her Wedgewood apartment in the early morning hours of Feb. 28, 2017. Ferguson was an ICU nurse at the time of her death.

One the first day of the trial, the state said Ferguson was stabbed nine times while in bed with a 6” knife taken from a butcher block from her kitchen.

Tiffany’s mother also got emotional on the stand and spoke directly to the man who killed her youngest daughter.

"You are a coward... You will go to jail. You will not be remembered, no one will ever know who you are. You will be lost... You will live your last days in darkness. May God have mercy on your soul."